Microsoft is set to unveil its next generation mobile operating system, Windows Phone 8, on October 29th in San Francisco. There’s a slight problem though.

Most developers don’t have access to the Windows Phone SDK.

Microsoft is providing key partners with a beta of their SDK so they can have apps in the Windows Phone Store on launch day, but it’s unclear how one becomes a key partner. If you run a service used by millions of people, services such as Facebook or Netflix, then chances are Microsoft called you. But if you’re an indie developer, it looks like Microsoft is going to make you wait.

[tweet_this content=”So not only can you not develop an app for a hot new platform, but your work will only be downloadable by half or a quarter of the people in a certain country”]With regards to the actual devices themselves, as of this month there have been only five Windows Phone 8 handsets announced. Samsung’s ATIV S, which can best be described as a modified Galaxy S III; Nokia’s Lumia 920 and Lumia 820, the former being a flagship device, with the latter being a slight refresh to the Lumia 900; And finally HTC’s two phones, the 8X and 8S, both of which are supposedly “signature phones” that’ll be co-marketed with Microsoft.[/tweet_this]

[tweet_this content=’Hello World’]It should be noted that Nokia is going to offer the Lumia 920 on just one operator in the United States, AT&T, and one operator in the UK, Everything Everywhere. This type of arrangement was considered the norm several years ago, but now it’s almost taken for granted that flagship devices from Apple and Samsung are offered on all the major operators in a particular region.[/tweet_this]

[tweet_this url=”https://eepurl.com/eiGfI”]Why is any of this important? Because Nokia is artificially limiting the size of the market that developers can reach with their applications. So not only can you not develop an app for a hot new platform, but your work will only be downloadable by half or a quarter of the people in a certain country.[/tweet_this]

Something to think about.